The present invention is directed to an apparatus for entertainment and education and a method of use, and in particular, to an apparatus employing a number of interlocking pieces that allow for the construction of three dimensional shapes, and that include indicia with the pieces for educational purposes during construction of the shapes.
In the prior art, various games and apparatus have been proposed that utilize interlocking pieces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,900 to Gallant discloses a three-dimensional puzzle structure that employs pieces that are irregular and polygonal shaped, and pieces that are flat planar blocks. The pieces are interlocked with dovetail joints.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,150,707 to Anderson discloses building blocks and a building assembly, wherein the blocks are joined together using a tongue and groove construction. The tongue and groove construction allows for constructing assemblies, which are basically right angled.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,130 to Walker discloses a playhouse with elements based on two modular units. The playhouse is made up of panels and bendable strips are used to link the panels together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,690 to Stoffle et al. discloses clamps for a free standing play structure. The clamps connect panels together in right angle, straight or angled configurations.
While the prior noted above suggests tongue and groove connection in various game and building apparatus, none of the prior art noted above allows for construction of shapes in a wide variety of configurations and ones that allow for creativity input by the builder. As such, a need exists to provide improved apparatus allowing for construction of three dimensional shapes using a number of modular pieces, and including modes of construction that couple shape making with educational/entertainment objectives such as image or text message creations or combinations thereof.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus having both entertainment and education use.
Another object of the invention is an apparatus that allows for the creation of three-dimensional shapes.
Yet another object of the invention is a method of using the inventive apparatus wherein the pieces are manipulated to make various shapes for entertainment and/or education.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as a description thereof proceeds.
In satisfaction of the foregoing objects and advantages, the present invention provides an interlocking apparatus for education and entertainment comprising a plurality of building pieces and a plurality of connector pieces. Each building piece further comprises a building piece portion having a periphery, a first thickness, and opposing first and second faces. The periphery includes a first connector portion extending along at least a portion of the periphery, the first connector portion having a second thickness, and having one of a slot or a protrusion.
Each connector piece has at least a pair of second connector portions, each second connector portion being complementary to the first connector portion by having a slot if the first connector portion has a protrusion or a protrusion if the first connector portion has a slot, so that one building piece can be connected to another building piece using a connector piece. A set of the plurality of the connector pieces have second connector portions that are right angled with respect to each other and another set of the plurality have second connector portions that are obliquely angled with respect to each other, whereby a three dimensional figure can be built using the building pieces and connector elements.
In a preferred embodiment, the first connector portions have a slot and the second connector portions have a protrusion. The first connector portion can extend along the entire periphery of the building piece. Each building piece and each connector piece is preferably made of a rigid non-metallic material, such as a hard plastic.
The plurality of connector pieces can include a number of configurations such as connector pieces that are: right-angled with a pair of second connector portions; are t-shaped with three connector portions; have a pair of right-angled connector portions (cross-shaped); and have a pair of second connector portions that are right-angled and a third connector portion which is angled at about 45xc2x0 from one of the right-angled connector portions.
The connector portions of the building pieces can be sized so that a recess is formed portion in one-face of the building piece, and the other opposing face can be generally flat.
A portion of the building pieces can have indicia on at least one of the first and second faces, and the indicia can form one of an image or text message, or a combination thereof particularly when pieces are joined together.
The periphery of each building piece can made up of a plurality of edges, with at least two edges being right angled. Dimensions of the right angled edges of the plurality of connector pieces are in multiples of a base dimension so that either individual building pieces can be connected together or an individual building piece can connect to at least two building pieces.
Each connector piece can have a body portion with each second connector portion extending therefrom, the body portion including a lip on either side of the connector portion, the lip abutting a peripheral edge of a the first connector portion when the connector piece is adjacent a building piece. The body portion is sized with respect to the second connector portion so that a body portion surface is interposed between surfaces of adjacent building pieces to form a continuous generally flat surface between the adjacent building pieces.
The invention also entails a method of forming a game apparatus by providing the building pieces and connector pieces, selecting a number of game pieces and connector pieces, and connecting the game pieces together using the connector pieces to make a desired structure. The structure can be assembled using indicia on the building pieces to create text, images or combinations thereof.